Stranger at the Bar
by Amnestyyy
Summary: Chloe loves many things, and her job is certainly one of those. For many different reasons, and one more reason this particular night. (First Bechloe) (Oneshot)


**Alright. My first little foray into Bechloe. Although I have to admit to having read a whole lot of it, this is the first I wrote (or rather: finished). Let me get this straight, though: I'm not particularly enthusiastic about this. It's not my best writing, in my eyes. That being said, I went over this so often that I think I might just barf if I have to work on it any longer, so here it is. Yay?**

* * *

Chloe loved many things. Music, of course, above all else. Closely followed by her friends and family. Whenever she'd make her list of things she loved, though, her job would always find its way on there as well.

Whenever her friends would complain about their jobs, Chloe's face would contort into a frown – it was something she could hardly imagine. Then again, being a bartender was quite a difference from being, say, an accountant.

The bar where she worked wasn't much, but it was cosy and homey, with an easy and laid-back atmosphere and friendly – albeit more than a little crazy – patrons. She considered herself more than lucky to be working here.

Her friend Tom had bought the beaten-up bar shortly after he graduated, and had immediately agreed to let her work here. Chloe being the most social ray of sunshine in and around Barden made it a logical and sound business decision.

It had taken a lot of work to make it a presentable establishment, but eventually she, Tom and her best friend Aubrey had managed to make it exactly what they had set out to achieve, and over the months the cash register started filling up more and more nicely.

Tonight was a quiet night. Well… as quiet as any night could be when Fat Amy was in attendance, Chloe supposed. She was one of the bar's regulars, and had the running tendency to turn even the most quiet nights into sessions of mermaid dancing or this amazing little game she called _dingo wrestling_.

Right now, she was trying to show Cynthia-Rose and Lily how to wrangle a crocodile, using a bottle of tequila and the unsuspecting Emily as stage props. She was about to ask Aubrey to put a stop to it – for everyone's safety – when her eyes caught on to the opening door, and two entirely non-regular people walking in.

The two women took a long look around, their eyes widening visibly as they took in the spectacle that was crocodile wrangling, before slowly making their way over to the bar. Chloe shamelessly exploited the opportunity to observe the newcomers.

Walking in front, and carrying herself with an amazing amount of confidence and raw sex appeal was a long, leggy and buxom brunette, who immediately greeted her with a gleaming row of pearly whites and a small wave of perfectly-manicured fingers.

The _other_ brunette took up most of Chloe's attention, though. She was almost the complete opposite of her friend – Chloe hoped they were _just_ friends – being a fair bit shorter, and walking as if she'd like nothing more than to just sink into the wooden floorboards.

As they clambered onto the stools lining the bar, Chloe took in the tinier woman's dark eyeliner and many ear piercings, amongst which was an ear spike that was probably meant to be intimidating. It wasn't.

She considered making small-talk with the duo, but the smaller woman's entire attitude seemed to be screaming 'fuck off and leave me alone.' Now, usually, Chloe didn't really take people's personal boundaries into regard – she honestly didn't really understand the concept, and it was way too much trouble to figure out whose lay where, and she figured people could just _tell_ her if she crossed a line.

Today, however, something was different. Something about this woman gave her pause, which was strange, and weird, and a little disconcerting, because it was decidedly _un-Chloe_.

Before she had much time to ponder the reasons behind this development, the tall brunette was already waving her over with another dazzling smile. Chloe practically skipped towards them. This was _exactly_ what she liked about her job: meeting new people and interacting with them.

"Hi there!" she chirped in her usual, cheery manner. "What can I do you for?"

Ignoring Chloe's question entirely, the brunette extended her hand, practically grabbing Chloe's. "Hey! I'm Stacie," she beamed. "Beca and I are new around here. We moved here from Portland, Maine to attend-"

"She just asked what we wanted to drink, Stace," the smaller brunette interrupted with an amused half-grin. "No need to tell her your whole life-story."

The leggy one – Stacie – just waved her hand dismissively, not even sparing Beca a glance. "Don't mind her, she's the grumpy one."

Chloe shot them both one of her brightest smiles, giving Stacie a wink. "I think it's cute."

"One," Beca started, shooting Chloe something that was probably supposed to be a menacing glare. "I'm not cute. Two, I need a beer if I'm going to have to deal with people all night."

"If you say so," Chloe responded with faux-innocence, shooting Stacie a conspiratorial smile and nodding in acknowledgement of her drink order.

As if attempting to prove her own earlier statement wrong, Beca turned her stool away from the bar, crossed her arms, and stared off into the distance with an expression that was almost – but not quite – a pout.

Just as Chloe was about to strike up conversation again, a loud whooping could be heard from the other side of the bar, drawing everyone's attention.

Fat Amy was, unsurprisingly, the centre of attention, standing on one of the tables and being in the process of taking her shirt off, encouraged by the shouts from a nearby table. Chloe visibly cringed as she heard Aubrey raising her voice.

"Fat Amy get off that table right now! And for heaven's sake, put your shirt back on!" the blonde called shrilly, using her lungs and vocal cords at top performance.

As she attempted to reign Fat Amy in and get her off the table with the help of some of the patrons, she turned towards the other table. "Bumper Allen, I swear to God, if you don't shut up I'll cut you off for the rest of the week!"

For a flicker of a moment, it looked as if Bumper would ignore Aubrey's threat, but the tall blonde shot him such a cold glare that he seemed to melt back into his chair, quiet as a mouse, and without all the attention on her, Fat Amy was soon shepherded back into her chair.

"What was that all about?" Beca asked, turning her stool towards the bar again so she could look at Chloe with a single raised eyebrow.

"Oh, that's Fat Amy," Chloe answered.

"Yeah, that… really doesn't answer anything," the tiny brunette hedged.

Chloe shrugged with a smile, wiping a part of the bar down. "Just wait until you get to know her a little better. It'll make sense then."

Beca scrunched up her face with a harshly whispered 'yikes.' Stacie, however, had turned her attention to the other side of the bar, where Aubrey was now clearing one of the tables. "Who's that?" she asked, her voice carrying a lilt of curiosity and… something else.

"Are you kidding me?" Beca huffed with a laugh. "You're into the tyrannical bitch?"

"Hey!" Chloe scolded, swatting at Beca with the rag. "That's my best friend you're talking about!"

Beca raised her hands in surrender. "Dude, I stand by my point."

" _Dude_?" Chloe laughed, the offense already forgotten.

"Again," Stacie interjected, "don't mind Beca. She has the social skills of a- Well, never mind that. "

"Yeah," Beca groused. "Never mind that."

Chloe's smile grew just slightly wider. "You should totes go talk to Aubrey, though. I bet the two of you would hit it off."

For a moment, the brunette bit her lip in thought, before turning towards the mirror behind Chloe to check her reflection and make sure all her _assets_ were properly presented. Chloe quickly grabbed something from the cooler underneath the bar, handing it to the brunette. "Take this for brownie points!" she stage-whispered with an exaggerated wink, before watching the brunette stalk towards Aubrey like a lioness would an antelope.

"So, just the two of us then, huh?" Chloe smiled, grabbing her own drink from behind her and placing it besides Beca's as she dropped herself onto one of the service stools.

"Yep," the brunette responded, drawing the vowel out and finishing the word with a pop. "Once Stacie has her eyes on someone…"

"Yes…?" Chloe asked, leaning forwards and smiling sweetly.

"N-nothing," the brunette stammered in response, turning her eyes away.

Chloe felt her face fall for a brief moment. She had hoped to have some fun with Beca. Get to know her a little better, maybe flirt a little, and who knows where that could lead… But it didn't look like Beca was in much of a talking mood – and certainly not a flirting mood.

Maybe Chloe's gaydar was off?

Not wanting to make anyone uncomfortable, Chloe got up from her seat again and resumed some of the menial – and unnecessary – work. She could see Stacie and Aubrey interacting, although there was too much white noise to make out their conversation.

That, and her attention was caught by the awkward wave coming from Beca. "Yes?"

"Hey, um. I didn't get your name, so…"

Chloe almost snickered at the little mess of hunched shoulders and awkward half-smile. "That's because I didn't give you guys my name yet."

"Right," the woman nodded, as if that was exactly what she said. "So… are you going to give me your name or should I just call you Red?"

"While I do like that," Chloe smiled as she took a sip from her drink, "you can call me Chloe."

"Chloe," the other woman repeated, as if trying to test the sound of it on her tongue. "I like that."

"Yeah?" Chloe asked leaning forward, voice teasing and maybe – just maybe – the slightest bit hopeful.

"Uh," Beca ventured, followed by a short silence. "Yeah."

Chloe drew back slightly, mentally debating with herself whether Beca was trying to flirt with her, or just awkward enough not to even be clued in on the fact that she was doing just that. Finally, the redhead decided she'd figure it out through the process of trial and error.

"So, Beca? Is that short for anything?"

The tiny brunette shot her a grimace. "Yeah. And no, I don't want to tell you what for. My parents had horrible taste in names."

Chloe hummed thoughtfully. "I like Beca, though. It suits you."

This time, she only raised a suspicious eyebrow, waiting for Chloe to continue.

"You know… Cute, adorable, but really pretty too."

" _Dude_ ," Beca whispered harshly, making her more audible than she had been when talking. "That's not- I'm not-"

"Not what?" Chloe ventured curiously. "Cute? Adorable? Pretty?" _Gay?_ She continued mentally, keeping herself from turning away at the thought.

"All of the above," Beca murmured grumpily, before taking another sip from her beer.

"Oh, I disagree," Chloe laughed. "I'm willing to surrender on the adorable… For now. But you're totes cute _and_ pretty."

She was rewarded with an enormous eye-roll, which only caused her to laugh more. When she quietened down, Beca bit her lower lip, the faintest hint of a smile still visible. "Thanks, I suppose?" she muttered quietly.

Chloe gave her a tip of her imaginary hat, before taking a couple of bottles and walking over to one of the tables off to the side to do a round of refills. When she returned, Beca seemed to be deep in thought.

After a few more minutes of silent pondering, the brunette took a deep breath. "You're all that too, y'know."

Chloe could literally feel her stomach doing a somersault, but slowly turned around, face schooled in an expression of innocent curiosity. "All what?"

The eye-roll, accompanied by a short and barely audible huff, told Chloe that Beca knew exactly what game she was playing. Now she just had to wait and see if Beca would play along or leave her hanging.

"You know. Pretty and stuff."

A small squeal escaped her before she could clamp down on the giddiness. "You think I'm pretty?"

"Seriously?" Beca countered, a little more confident now, and feigning offense. "Blind gay priests would think _you're_ pretty. You're, like, rainbows and sunshine and cotton candy and- God, that's cheesy. Forget I said anything. Please."

Beca honestly did appear to be mortified by her own words, so Chloe decided to take a little pity on her, instead of teasing her mercilessly. "Two pretty girls at the bar," Chloe smiled. "That'd make a good start for a couple," she continued with a wink.

"Or a really lame joke," Beca deadpanned in response, giving a half-shrug as she took another drink from her beer.

"I prefer couple," Chloe hummed carelessly, taking a sip from her own drink.

Beca gave Chloe a slightly impish grin as she finished her beer. "Maybe I do, too," she said with one slightly raised eyebrow.

Chloe generally considered herself to be fairly unflappable. That being said, she had not expected Beca to be very responsive to her flirting, let alone her flirting back this unabashedly. For once, Chloe felt slightly knocked off kilter. "I'll… be right back," she muttered, grabbing two bottles and stalking over to the table where Aubrey and Stacie were seated.

Judging by their facial expressions, the two ladies were greatly enjoying their conversation. She hated to interrupt, but placed the two bottles on the table anyway, gently touching Aubrey's shoulder. "Don't worry about closing up tonight, I've got it all handled."

Aubrey looked up, brow slightly creased. "But you already closed yesterday and-"

"Shush. It's fine, enjoy your night, I'll close up tonight, you can have tomorrow and the day after. If you must."

Aubrey gave a barely perceptible nod and a sharp nod of her head. "Alright. Thank you, Chloe."

"Sure thing. If you two need a refill, just give a wave."

She turned around to walk back to the bar with a smile, feeling confident enough about her head being on straight again. As soon as she caught a glimpse of Beca, back turned towards her and hand fiddling with the leather of the barstool, her face melted like snow left out in the sun.

Because that looked an awful lot like a _wedding ring_. She took a few quiet steps closer, taking another good look, but coming to the very same conclusion as before. Apparently Beca was married.

Well fuck.

Chloe was a firm believer in the fact that flirting could be entirely innocent and didn't actually have to lead anywhere. But she had hoped – expected, almost – for this time to be different. Maybe she'd been a little foolish or naïve. She got that a lot.

But she really thought Beca was interested in her.

She shook her head forcefully, clearing it of all the negative thoughts. It was _fine_. No biggie.

As soon as she slipped back behind the bar, Beca waved her over. "Can I get another of these, Red?" she asked with a small smile.

"Yeah, sure," Chloe responded immediately, plastering on her best fake-smile as she handed the bottle over. Beca managed to subtly graze their hands together as the bottle was passed over, but Chloe pretended not to notice.

She had a very strict set of rules, and one of the more important ones was not to flirt with people in an established relationship. She'd been down that road once, and it never got her anything but trouble.

"Careful," she warned. "I don't want to be the one to take your keys away from you tonight."

"Oh, we walked," Beca chuckled softly. "In case one of us wouldn't be going home tonight," she continued with a mischievous glint in her stormy blue eyes.

Chloe closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to calm her libido. "Smart. I'm betting Stacie is doing pretty well for herself over there."

Beca's look – part confusion, part hurt – reminded Chloe of a kicked puppy. She _wanted_ to apologize, but forcefully reminded herself that married women did not have the right to look upset about being rebuffed.

Now that she knew what to look for, it dawned on Chloe that Beca seemed to be hiding her ring on purpose, never using the hand, and always leaving it dangling out of her sight. _That's just rude._

Chloe continued her menial duties behind the bar by rinsing some of the glasses before drying them. It took Beca a little while, but eventually, she turned her attention to Chloe again, a slightly insecure smile playing around her lips. "So, what do you like to do in your spare time?"

Chloe shrugged half-heartedly. "I spend most nights working here. The ones that I don't work, I spend on homework or hanging with Aubrey."

"You go to Barden too?" Beca asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"Yeah…"

When no elaboration came, Beca seemed to shrink in on herself again. Chloe thought it would have looked funny, if it hadn't been such a sad sight. But then, right before her eyes, something changed visibly, as the tiny brunette puffed out her chest and sat up straighter. "Dude?!" she huffed. "Did I say something wrong or like, offended you or something?"

Chloe shot her a pointed glare – something she didn't do very often – before sighing. "No," she admitted eventually. "I really like you, but I don't flirt around with someone else's girl, that's all."

It was funny to see Beca completely flabbergasted as to what Chloe was talking about, the few seconds it took for the realization to dawn on her. "Oh! Shit. Fuck, no! I'm not!"

"Flirting?" Chloe asked with raised eyebrows. "Because if you weren't flirting, you're even more awkward than I thought."

"No! I mean, yes, I was flirting. I'm not someone else's girl, though…"

"I _saw_ the _ring_ , Beca," Chloe huffed accusingly.

"Yeah, that's not… a thing, actually," Beca muttered, laying her hand out on the bar and peeling the ring of her finger, before holding it out to Chloe. The redhead hesitantly held out her hand to take it.

As soon as it hit the palm of her hand, she knew something was off. This wasn't as heavy as it should be. Nor was it the right temperature. In fact, it seemed to be… "Plastic?"

"Yeah," Beca nodded eagerly. "I use it to prevent men from hitting on me all the time."

"Wow," Chloe laughed. "Ego, much?"

The brunette gave a tiny shrug as she took the ring back. "Experience," she smiled while smiling smugly.

Chloe nodded sagely. "Well, that does explain why a babe like you had to endure the entire night without even one guy approaching you."

"Babe?"

"Oh, defs," Chloe nodded with another wink.

For a moment, Beca seemed dazed by Chloe's sudden raise in flirtiness. "Okay, sure. I… I can work with that," she smiled after a while.

"Oh, I'm sure you can," Chloe smiled as she placed two more drinks in between them. "Now then, about that name of yours…"

* * *

 **Sweet potato pie. Since this was my first fic with this pairing, I think I deserve some slack about not getting their personalities quite right. This fic stinks. I'd burn it, but my some-times friend, most-times nemesis would be very upset about that.**


End file.
